Isolation and sequence of the HOG1 homologue from Debaryomyces hansenii by complementation of the hog1Delta strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The HOG1 gene encodes a MAP kinase that plays an essential role in maintaining water homeostasis in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. A gene homologous to S. cerevisiae HOG1 has been isolated from a highly salt-tolerant yeast, Debaryomyces hansenii, by phenotypic complementation. DNA sequencing of the clone revealed the presence of an open reading frame encoding a protein 387 amino acids long. The deduced amino acid sequence showed very high similarity with homologous genes identified from S. cerevisiae, Candida albicans and Zygosaccharomyces rouxii. In addition, it has also TGY motif characteristics of hyperosmolarity-activated MAP kinases. The Genbank Accession No. of this sequence is AF185278.